Invalid-carrier.



w, c. OGDEN; INVALID CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6, 19l5- Patentedw 22 q I WiHiamCOde I Br v 2 I I "ATTORNEYS Patented May 22,1917.

- 3 SHEETS-SHEET '2.

' WITNESSES A rromvzrs .w. c. oengw. INVALID-CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6,1915- 1 0227,30]. I-

3 SHEETS-SHEET-B.

W/TA/ESSES I ngavmg a Wi Ham '0 en 5 B)" g Afro/ NEE ls r m-ins co; Imam-mum. wAsnmcmn, n. 1.1

Patented May 22 1917.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM CLARK OGDEN OIE BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK.

INVALID-CARRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-Maize, 1917.

' Application filed January 6, 1915; Serial No. 738.

that type disclosedin United States Letters Patent Number 1,050,814, granted to C. E. Demeree on the 21st of January, 1913', the invalid carrier being an appliance designed for use in connection with a bedstead, whereby the invalid or patient may be raised, lowered or placed in different angles or positions above the bed for the purpose of resting and other benefits, changing the bed clothes and also for the purpose of changing the position of the body and limbs for certain treatments, and with the least possible annoyanceor injury to the patient.

The invention has for its general objects to improve and simplify the construction of appliances of the character referred to so as to be reliable and eflicient in use, of durable and substantial design and capable of being easily and quickly set up or taken down by nurses or persons of ordinaryintelligence. More specifically the invention has for one of its objects to improve the invalidcarrying frame so that the two sections thereof can be rigidly 'held at an angle to each other while the carrying frame is being raised from or lowered to the bed, there being adjustable braces between the two sections of the frame so that the said sections can be fastened in any desired position, and the sections of the frames are also provided with gap-bridging devices or guards at the hinge joints between the sections, so that the bed clothes will not be caught in the joints when the sections of the carrying frame are straightened out flat from an angular position.

Still another object of the invention is the' provision of a simple and durable supporting frame structureso designed that it can be easily and quickly taken down or put up, and capable of being manufactured at a minimum cost.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel form of locking means for holding the operating crank in any desired C. OGDEN,

position while the patient is wholly or partly raised from the bed.

-With such objects in view, and others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises various novel features of construction i andarrangement of parts'which will be set forth-with particularity in the following description and claimappended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of-the invention and wherein similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the VIBWS,

-Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invalid bedstead appliance;

Fig. 2 is a side View showing the same applied to a beadstead, which latter is shown by dotted lines; Flg. 3 is a side view of one of the bearlngs for the crank shaft;

Fig. 4-isa sectional view on the line 4+4,

Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is aside view of oneof the upper longitudinal bars about to be connected with the end frames;

Fig. 6 is a side view of the lower longitudinal bar about to be connected with the end frames;

Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the invalid carrier; l v r Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the carrier; 4 V

Fig. 9 is a side view of the invalid carrier with the two sections thereof fastened at an angle to each other; and

Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view of one ofthe braces for holding the sections of the invalid carrier in different angular positions of adjustment.

Referring to the drawing, A designates the invalid carrying frame or carrier and B the supporting frame or skeleton structure of the appliance.

The carrier A comprises a rectangular frame of two sections a and a connected by hinges 1 at the center"of the carrier and connected with the side bars 2 thereof; The sections of the carrier are covered by canvas or other pieces or bottoms 3 which are detachably connected with the side bars2 by means of pivoted fasteners 4 which enter eyelets or sockets 5 arranged in the side of the invalid carrier at the center, whereby provided with a cord or other filler 7 form ing a marginal bead 8 to which a tool or other suitable device may be gripped for stretching the pieces 3 as taut as possible in their application to the frame sections a and a. A central strip3 of canvasor other material is removably applied to the carrier frame at the center thereof, it being fastened in the same manner as the main pieces 3. At the corners, and adjacent the middle of the carrier frame are fastened rings or equivalent devices 9 for connection with the suspension cords 10 and 11.

In some treatments it is desirable to have the legs and body of a patient disposed at an angle to each other and also to be able to raise and lower the invalid carrier without disturbing this position of the patient, and therefore adjustable connecting means or braces C are applied to the sections a and a the said sections can be rigidly maintained in any desired position of adjustment. In the present instance these adjustable connecting means or braces are shown as overlapping bars 12 and 13 respectively hingedly connected at 14: with the side bars 2 of the sections a and a of the invalid carrier. These bars 12 and 13 extend through passages 15 in a sleeve or block 16, and these passages each have at one side teeth 17 with which teeth .18 on the bars '12 and l3 are adapted to interlock for the purpose of forming a rigid connecting element between the sections a and a, which elements bridge the hinges 1. The teeth 17 and 18 can be maintained in interlocking relation by setscrews 19 in the sleeve 16, which force the bars 12 and 13 into engagement with the teeth 17. In Fig. 9 the two sections a and a of the carrier are set at an angle to each other and rigidly held by the devices C, so that the carrier A can be bodily raised by the suspension straps 10 and 11 connected with the ends thereof without the sections a and a chan 'in their relative oosition. 2D

In order to prevent the bed clothes from being caught between the ends of the side bars 2 of the sections a. and a at the hinge joints, a gap-closing device is provided which comprises'a piece of leather or other flexible material 20, Figs. 7 and 9, fastened to each side bar 2" of the section a and e'xtending therefrom under the adjacent end of the side bars 2 of the section a, and the free ends of the guard pieces 20 pass through keepers 21 fastened to the side bars 2 of the section 0;. These guards or gap-closing devices readily yield as the sections a and a move from a fiat position shown in Fig. 2

to an angular position shown in Fig. 9, and.

extending bars or rods 5 and a lower longitudinally extending bar orrod 6 whereby a skeleton-like structure is formed within which the invalid carrier A is disposed. The entire structure B is preferably made of metal pipe and couplings. The end frames are legs or standards 22 which are united by upper and lower cross bars 23 and 24L rigidly connected with the legs by T-coupling s 25. The longitudinally extending bars 12 and b are detachably united with the end frames by stud and socket connections. Thus, in the T couplings 25 that form the upper corners of the end frames are'fastened vertically extending tapering studs 26, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, and on the ends of the upper longitudinal bars 22 are T- couplings 27 that form sockets to receive the'studs 26. These T-couplings are regular pipe fittings, "'but the sockets; 28 are reamed out to a taper so as to fit the studs 26. The rods 6 are connected with the end frames by lowering the, socket couplings 27 onto the upwardly-extending studs 26, and the weight of the bars 6 maintain the parts connected. The studs-26 are of considerable length, so that when they fit in thesocket couplings 27 the end frames 1) and b are kept rigidly in a vertical position. The

lower longitudinal bar 6 has elbow couplings 29 fastened to the ends thereof, and the lower extremities of these couplings are tapered into studs30 which enter sockets31 formed by T-oouplings'32 in the lower cross bars 24 of the end frames, and also in this case the weight of the .bar 6 maintains the ends of the latter engaged with the end frames. Thus, to disconnectthe end frames it is merely necessary to lift upwardly on the bars 6 and b andyt'he ends of said bars will be detached. 7

Any suitable means may be employed for raising and lowering the patient carrier A while the patient is positioned thereon but in the present instance the centrally disposed rotary shaft 33 is mounted-in the top of the structure B and the suspension cords 10 and 11 wind on the shaft, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The ends of the shaft are disposed in horizontal bearings 34 which are provided with removable caps 35 whereby the winding shaft 33 can be readily removed when the stretcher is to be taken apart. The bearings 34 are fastened to the cross bars 23 by the bearings being formed with tubular base portions 36 through which the cross bars 23 extend, and by means of a set-screw 37 each hearing may be rigidly held on its supporting cross bar. On the end of the winding shaft 33 is a crank 38 having a handle 39 in which is a slidable locking rod 40 movable longitudinally so that it can be projected inwardly. from the full to the dotted-line position, Fig. 2, so

that this rod will engage the adjacent cross bar 23, whereby the Winding shaft is prevented from turning when the carrier A holds the patient wholly or partly 011' the bed. The cords 10 and 11 extend in the opposite direction from the winding shaft 33 and pass around guide pulleys 41 inovably suspended by hooks 42 from the longitudinal bars 6 To prevent the bars?) from springing inwardly under the weight of the patient, a centrally disposed stiffening bar '43 is positioned between the longitudinal bars 6 and removably fastened to the latter by detachable clips 44 which span the bars 6 and engage the ends of the bar 43 to which the clips are fastened by removable pins 45.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five'cents each, by addressing the Commissioner Washington, D. C.

In an appliance of the class described, a supporting structure comprising end frames each formed of legs and upper and lower connecting bars, the legs being provided at their upper ends with studs above the connecting bar and in alinement with the legs and the lower cross bars each with a socket at its center, a pair of longitudinally eX- tending rods having sockets at their ends receiving the said studs, and a rod having at its ends studs entering the sockets of the cross bars.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

- WILLIAM CLARK OGDEN.

Witnesses:

JAs. C. OGDEN, O. O. RUNYON.

of Patents, 

